Eichel admits Flames nearly acquired him from Sabres
Throughout the summer of 2021 and even into the 2021-22 season, there were plenty of reports that the Calgary Flames were trying to trade for Jack Eichel.
At the time, it was reported that the Buffalo Sabres wanted Matthew Tkachuk in any return for Eichel, though whether or not that was the case remains to be known. What is now known, however, is that the Flames were indeed in on the 27-year-old, which he confirmed himself on the Empty Netters podcast.
“There were teams out east in the mix trying to make things happen,” Eichel said. “The whole medical part of it was definitely a big component. The team obviously had to be okay with the surgery that I wanted to do. A lot of things had to work. I think as the summer went on, you’d always hear different teams call. Whether it was Minnesota or Carolina, or there was a period in the early fall where it was Colorado.
“When it came down to it, towards the end, it was between Calgary and Vegas.”
Jack Eichel confirms that it came down to the Calgary #Flames and Vegas Golden Knights when he requested a trade from Buffalo pic.twitter.com/i235V3Xc8H
— Dennis Wideman (@widemanden) December 21, 2023
Ultimately, it was the Vegas Golden Knights who landed Eichel, trading Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a top 10 protected first-round pick in 2022, and a second-round pick in 2023. Almost immediately after the trade was made, Eichel underwent an artificial disc replacement procedure on his neck and wound up playing just 34 games that season.
While his first season with the Golden Knights was disappointing, the 2022-23 campaign was much different. Eichel’s 66 points in just 67 games led the Golden Knights in regular season scoring, as did his 26 points in 22 playoff outings. Even more important was that he helped lead the Golden Knights to its first-ever Stanley Cup.
Given what wound up happening just one year later with Tkachuk, you can’t help but wonder where the Flames might be had former general manager Brad Treliving agreed to send him to the Sabres. It is quite frustrating to look back on, as Eichel would have easily been the best centreman the Flames organization has been in a long time.
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